The Art of the 21st Century

A hundred years from now, art history books will (hopefully) be updated. Just as we read about the art of the Renaissance Era, or the work of modern artists like Van Gogh, books will then write about the art of the 21st century. And undoubtedly, it will contain a section on memes. While it is difficult to acknowledge at first, it is true that the Golden Age of the Internet has brought to life this new form of art, where we express humor through a single, captioned picture. It truly respects the adage a picture is worth a thousand words. In fact, some memes are so powerful in their imagery that they do not even require a caption to deliver the entire range of intended emotion. Of course, it is not a constant art. Meme-making is evolving constantly. Memes mutate, and soon, take a wide variety of forms. I will discuss a very recent, excellent example of this in a later post.

One must realize, however, that despite sounding easy, successful meme-making is a difficult job. As much as it is an art, there is also a science behind it, and a complicated one at that. Not any image will deliver the desired emotion. Not any caption will capture the humor perfectly. Moreover, the unwritten rules of the Internet assigns each meme a particular domain of usage. An incorrectly used meme will often be misinterpreted, not to mention that it highly embarrassing to present a misconstrued meme to the public. Every meme has a set recipe, and to modify it while preserving the intended meaning requires expertise.

In my blog, I wish to pass on my considerable knowledge of meme-making to the aspiring meme-creators. I hope that my tutelage will benefit them, helping them create the right meme for the right situation. As a scientist, I believe that I will be able to break this art down to a science, so that if you follow the basic steps, you already have the raw materials to your meme. All that remains is to add a little imagination.